Check spelling and grammar

Office Starter 2010 programs come with the ability to check the spelling and grammar in your file. The spelling and grammar checker, often called spell check, in the same location for Word Starter and Excel Starter.

Open the spelling and grammar checker

Open Word Starter or Excel Starter, and then click the Home tab.

In the Proofing group, click Spelling.

If the program finds spelling mistakes, a dialog box appears with the first misspelled word found by the spelling checker.

After you decide how to resolve the misspelling (ignoring it, adding it to the program’s dictionary, or changing it), the program moves to the next misspelled word.

Check spelling and grammar automatically (Word Starter only)

This section explains how automatic spelling and grammar checking works in Word Starter, and how to turn it on or off.

How automatic spell checking works

Word Starter can flag misspelled words or grammatical errors as you work so that you can easily locate them. You can right-click the misspelled word to see suggested corrections.

The words in bold are suggestions from Word Starter; click one to automatically change the word to the correct spelling. You can also choose from the following options:

Ignore or Ignore All

Ignore the misspelling once, or ignore it every time it appears in your document.

Add to Dictionary

Add the word to Word Starter’s dictionary, so it won’t appear as misspelled the next time you type it.

AutoCorrect

Choose an automatic correction that Word Starter will apply each time you misspell a word.

Language

Choose a different proofing language.

Look Up

Investigate other ways to spell or say something.

How automatic grammar checking works

After you turn on automatic grammar checking, Word Starter will flag grammatical mistakes while you work. You can right-click a grammatical mistake to see more options.

Turn automatic spelling and grammar checking on or off

Click the File tab.

Under Help, click Options, and then click Proofing.

To turn on or off automatic spelling checking and automatic grammar checking for the currently open document, do the following:

Under Exceptions for, click Name of currently open file.

Select or clear the Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only check boxes.

To turn on or off automatic spelling checking and automatic grammar checking for all documents that you create from now on, do the following:

Under Exceptions for, click All New Documents.

Select or clear the Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only check boxes.

Important: If you turn off automatic spelling checking or automatic grammar checking for a file that you share with other people, you might want to notify those people that you made this change.